


Countdown

by litra



Category: The Flash (TV 2014), The Flash - All Media Types
Genre: ColdFlash Week 2017A, Day 2, F/M, M/M, Podfic Welcome, Soulmate-Identifying Timers, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-10
Updated: 2017-04-10
Packaged: 2018-10-17 08:43:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,642
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10590462
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/litra/pseuds/litra
Summary: Barry’s timer zeroed out the night his mother died. He didn’t have a soulmate, at least not until he was hit by lightning.





	

Barry's numbers zeroed out the night his mom died. He didn't notice it at first, didn't notice it all through the attack or when he was running through the dark afterwards. He didn't notice it when the cops found him, pulled him out of his home so he wouldn’t see. They dumped him with the paramedics, who wrapped a blanket around his shoulders and looked into his eyes, and checked his pulse. That’s when he saw it. A line of zeros on the inside of his arm, above where the doctor was taking his pulse.

 

He might've been a kid, but he was old enough to know what it meant. Old enough to know that whoever his timer had been ticking down to before, was no longer a match. His soulmate had changed, and until his numbers started ticking again he might as well not have one. He lost his mom, his dad, and his soulmate all in one night.

 

Iris said it didn't matter.

 

Joe said it was normal, that it happened to everyone. As a person grew they learned things, changed, and so the way they loved changed as well. He’d been through a lot and people often weren’t ready for a soulmate when something like that happened to them.

 

It wasn't like he was the only one. Sure it wasn't an advantage being the skinny nerd who also had a line of zeros on his wrist, but as he grew up, went into middle school, then high school, his classmates all zeroed out or randomized according to their personalities. One girl in Barry's algebra class had numbers that changed nearly every week, as she fell for one guy after another. If anything Barry’s zeros were odd because they stayed that way.

 

At least until the lightning.

 

Nine months. He’d been asleep for nine months. Then the doctor was shoving a jar in his face and where was his shirt, and the guy, Cisco was making everything sound like a joke. He shoved out his hands, needing distance, needing some room to breath, and he saw it.

 

His numbers.

 

Actual numbers, not just a line of zeros. Counting down the heartbeats until he locked eyes with  his soulmate. He had a soulmate.

 

All his adult life, getting pitying looks. Never able to convince anyone he was really interested because of numbers that couldn’t be for them anyway. Convincing himself he was in love with Iris even though their numbers never matched, because if he didn’t have anyone then he could love whoever he wanted, right?

 

Harrison Wells rolling in in a wheelchair broke him out of his daze.

 

A lightning strike and nine months and everything had changed.

 

Barry met up with Iris, and it was great, until it wasn’t. He met up with Jo and he didn’t believe him, until he did. Barry kept going back to STAR labs. He ran. He got faster. His numbers counted down.

 

Barry got used to checking his wrist. Everyone else did it. Everyone who hadn’t found their soulmate at least, but he’d never developed the habit. They didn’t randomize, when he decided to become a superhero, or during any of the other big choices he made. Every time he glanced down at his wrist his brain jumped into equations, how long would it be until he met them. He couldn’t count the seconds because the timers measured heartbeats. Sometimes his numbers would speed up or slow down depending on what his soulmate was doing.

 

His soulmate apparently had an exciting life, if their heart rate was anything to go by.

 

Twenty one days after Barry woke up and the world changed around him, his numbers dropped below 86,400.  If his soulmate kept a steady rate close to one beat a second, Barry would meet them some time that day.

 

“Yeah, lot’s of creepers on the internet.”

 

Felicity was standing in his lab. It had to be her. He couldn’t stop smiling as Iris and Felicity introduced themselves. Meeting again, now that he was who he was meant to be would be a perfect moment, a perfect story to tell years later. But he said his name like an idiot and glanced at his numbers, and it was her.

 

His heart stopped in his chest, because his numbers had zeroed out again at some point, but not in a bad way. He’d met his soulmate, and instead of counting down, his numbers were counting up, one heartbeat at a time.

 

He didn’t know if Iris saw his look, or if she just wanted to play matchmaker, but he went along with it, when she pushed for the double date. It was great when she got to meet his team, even when he crashed into the wall and had to spend ten minutes recovering from a minor concussion. She came to trivia night in the most gorgeous dress he’d ever seen.

 

They were in sync, matching each other before they even had to speak. It was how things were supposed to be. How it was in all the movies, even if his gut said something was off.

 

He would tell her, at the end of the night, after Iris and Eddie were gone, he’d tell her and then everything would be perfect.

 

Except The newly dubbed Captain Cold robbed the museum.

 

Felicity was on the train back to Starling before he pull his head out of his ass long enough to think about what they were again.

 

She squeaked when he suddenly appeared in the seat across from her. She was the only one in the train car. The wreck Cold had caused might have been bad for business but it was good for him.

 

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.” He really hadn’t, that was kind of the last thing on his list at the moment. But she was smiling, so it had to be okay.

 

“Don’t tell me you’re here to save me.”

 

He shook his head, brushing the idea away like there hadn’t been a major train crash just the day before. “Taking the train is still one of the safest ways to travel.”

 

The last of the tension in her shoulders eased away. “I thought that was airplanes.” She paused. Her head tilted to the side and she bit her lip briefly, “Is there something else?”

 

“Yeah, I…” Barry rubbed at the back of his neck, still smiling, though it was probably more awkward now. Somehow when he’d imagined this, he’d pictured something more romantic. Flowers or music. He could get down on one knee maybe, but he wasn’t really proposing, he was just….

 

“Barry?”

 

“My countdown hit zero.”

 

The world slowed down, and he could see each emotion clearly at it swept across her face. First surprise, which made sense, he’d had all zeroes the last time they’d talked. Then joy, because meeting your soulmate was supposed to be a good thing, except it didn’t stop there. Calculation, when her mind finally caught up with the reality, and replayed the last few days, finally landing on sympathy.

 

“You think I’m your soulmate.”

 

His hands were tangled together in his lap, but he managed to not look away. “It’s been good, the past few days, right? And I know people don’t always hit the countdown at the same time. I’m not asking you to move or anything but--”

 

“Barry,” She silenced him with a hand on his knee. She waited until he was looking at her to continue, “I’m not your soulmate.”

 

“It has to be you. There’s no one else... meeting your soulmate. It’s supposed to be important. You can’t just bump into them on the street, and you’re the only one.” He forced himself to stop babbling. He couldn’t keep meeting her eyes so instead they fell to his hands, laced together in front of him, elbows propped on his knees. The numbers on the inside of his wrist counted upward one heartbeat at a time.

 

Felicity reached out gently unlacing his fingers and pressing them to the pulse point on her wrist. It was the simplest way to test the bond, even if it wasn’t 100% reliable.

 

Barry watched his numbers, counted her pulse.

 

It wasn’t her.

 

He let out a ragged gusty breath, and let his head fall forward, before he pulled himself back together and looked up at her.

 

“Sorry?”

 

Felicity shook her head, “You should have seen me the time I thought Oliver was my soulmate, Awkward.”

 

“But that means… I missed them. I didn’t see realize and now, I might never find them again.”

 

She bumped his knee with her own, “You will. That’s how it works right? You’ll always find each other. Maybe they’ll be the one to find you?”

 

“Thanks, still friends?”

 

“Of course. I did have a good time Barry.”

 

He nodded. He felt lighter. Felicity would have been amazing, but he hadn’t lost that. It was just that he was headed for something else, something better.

 

“If you ever need anything, I will race over in a heartbeat.” He said it with a smile. Being able to joke about his powers was definitely an upside to telling his friends.

 

She smiled right back, “Same. Well, as fast I can run, which might take me a while, but I will still come.”

 

“Bye Felicity.” Before he could hear her return the sentiment, he pulled the speed force into himself and zipped away, running beside the train for a few miles, before heading back to his city.

 

~~~

 

In a run down apartment building on the edge of the south end Leonard Snart drained the last of his beer. He’d opened the bottle when he’d noticed his numbers were counting up rather than down.

 

When they started flicking past too fast to read, he decided he needed something stronger.

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry for all the telling rather then showing. I had a very different idea for this fic and then I rewatched the episode and suddenly the fic was going in a completely different direction.


End file.
